Bachelor Dad: A Single Dad Romance

Chapter Three

Libby drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, wondering if she’d ever find a place to park. The last thing she wanted or needed was to be late for Noah’s football game, but she hadn’t expected there to be so many people attending Desperation’s Fall Festival. She’d forgotten how people in town turned out for all of the town’s celebrations, but then she’d only been in town for about eight months. It all had her wondering what Christmas would be like.

Finally finding a spot that was so far away she could’ve saved herself the trouble and walked from home, she parked and stepped out of the car. “I should be used to it,” she muttered under her breath as she began walking toward the sound of the music in the distance. “After all, I’m on my feet all night.”

As she approached the carnival that had been set up around the baseball field, the music grew louder, and she could see the top of a Ferris wheel. The closer she got, the more people of all ages and sizes she saw milling around the area. To her surprise, she recognized more than she thought she would have. Maybe she wasn’t such a stranger in Desperation, after all.

But maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, she thought, making her way through the crowd. She couldn’t really get close to anyone. Not for a while, at least. Not until she felt comfortable being who she’d become. Who she’d had to become.

“Libby?”

Pulled from going down a memory path she really shouldn’t, she turned to see the secretary from the grade school. “Hi, Sadie.”

“I’ve been keeping a lookout for you,” Sadie said, joining her. “I was afraid you might miss Noah’s game.”

Libby shook her head and smiled. “I’ll miss the fireworks tonight, but not his game this morning.”

“That’s the important thing.”

“I was beginning to wonder if he was going to tell me he didn’t want me to be here,” Libby admitted with a soft laugh. “He forbade me to come to practices.”

Sadie laughed, too. “They can get strange at this age. I went through the same thing with Kevin’s two older brothers, so I guess I’m used to it.”

Libby appreciated Sadie’s friendship. They weren’t close friends, but Sadie had been a big help with enrolling Noah in school, which had been well into the second semester. It might have been a nightmare, but Sadie had made it painless.

“I didn’t realize this Fall Festival thing was so popular,” Libby admitted.

“Any excuse to get out and have a good time. Maybe it’s to make up for the name of our town,” Sadie suggested. “Whatever, we do know how to throw a party.”

Libby definitely agreed.

Now in the midst of the carnival, she looked around to see the smiling faces of her neighbors and people she’d only seen once or twice. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the perfect fall day. Everyone except Letha Adkins, who was glaring at her, as usual.

“Don’t let her bother you,” Sadie said, leaning closer. “I’ve never seen the woman without a frown. Unless she was needling someone.”

Libby simply nodded. She knew she wasn’t popular among at least a few people in town. After all, she did work at Lou’s. For some that meant she didn’t measure up. It didn’t bother her much. She wasn’t in Desperation to win a popularity contest. She only wanted a place to live where she hoped to keep her son and herself safe. Besides, most of the rest of the people she’d met were nice.

They left the carnival behind and approached the football field, where two small sets of bleachers held several parents and friends of the young players. As they drew nearer, she spied Garrett among them. His daughter was at his side, and Libby wondered who they’d come to watch play.

Sadie introduced Libby to her husband, who was sitting on the row just below Garrett. When Sadie invited her to join them, she did hesitate for a brief moment, but she didn’t want to sit alone, so she accepted.

As she settled next to Sadie, she turned to say hello to Garrett. “I wasn’t aware you were a peewee football fan.”

“Baseball is more my game,” he answered, “but Noah mentioned he had a game today, so I thought I’d come. Hope that’s all right.”

She was surprised. “He did? Of course it’s okay,” she hurried to assure him. There was no reason why he couldn’t be there, too, but Noah hadn’t mentioned it.

Refusing to let something so simple bother her, she smiled at his daughter. “Hi, Sophie.”

When the little girl returned the smile but said nothing, Libby glanced at Garrett, who shrugged and shook his head. “So how much do you know about football?” he asked.

Libby nearly answered that she had a much older brother, but stopped herself. “Not nearly as much as I need to, considering my son is playing.”

Sophie, who’d been watching them closely, patted the bench beside her. It was clear to Libby that it was an invitation to sit next to her. With Sadie busy talking to her husband, Libby didn’t think it would matter if she moved up to sit with the little girl. Even though spending time with Garrett might not be a good idea, she didn’t want to disappoint his daughter.

“I think it’s about to start,” Libby said, as the teams began to line up on the field for the kickoff and she settled next to Sophie.

“That’s Kirby MacGregor, Mac and Nikki’s boy, who’s doing the kicking,” Garrett explained.

“He’s one of Noah’s friends,” she said, without taking her eyes off the field. “He didn’t mention they weren’t on the same team.”

Garrett chuckled softly. “Friendly adversaries for the duration of the game?”

“That’s probably it,” Libby answered, hoping she could relax a little.

“There are teams in some of the other towns around here, so it isn’t as if they don’t have the chance to play teams with players they don’t know. But I heard there were enough boys interested to make up two teams. That makes it nice. More of them actually get a chance to play.”

Libby nodded and straightened as the football on the little stand connected with Kirby’s foot and went sailing through the air. Boys of all sizes scattered on the field, and before long, she’d become so engrossed in the game, she forgot about Garrett.

“You must know more about football than you let on,” he said, jerking her attention from the game.

“I attended a few football games when I was young.” She hoped her answer wasn’t so vague that he’d start asking questions, and she shouted, “Go, blue,” as one of the players on Noah’s team ran down the length of the field. Not only was she excited when the boy scored a touchdown, but she was relieved that the attention was taken off what school she’d attended. The less she had to make up, the better.

Within minutes, the game ended and the bleachers were spilling over with excited fans and players. “I guess your first game was about as good as it can get,” Garrett remarked to Noah when the boy joined them.

“No kidding!” Noah replied, laughing. He looked at Libby, his expression hopeful. “Would it be okay if I stay and ride some of the rides? I have enough money for a couple.”

“Maybe I can give you a little more,” she answered, “but I’ll have to pick you up before I go to work.”

Garrett put his hand on Noah’s shoulder, but spoke to Libby. “I’ll take care of his tickets, if he’ll ride a couple of rides with Sophie. She dragged me to the Ferris wheel earlier, but I told her we needed to wait until after Noah’s game.”

Libby looked at Noah, who glanced at Kirby before answering. “Yeah, sure,” he said with a shrug.

“What time do you have to be at work?” Garrett asked.

“In about four hours.”

“Why don’t you stick around for a while?” Garrett suggested. “Unless you have something you need to do, that is. It’s almost noon. We can grab a bite at one of the food booths.”

Not sure that spending more time with Garrett than she had already was a good idea, Libby glanced at Sophie. The silent begging in the girl’s eyes was enough to make her give Garrett’s suggestion another chance. When she looked quickly at Noah to see what he might think, he nodded. There wouldn’t be any begging off.

“Sure,” she answered, unable to say no to all of them. “I have some time, and we all need to eat, right?”

“Right,” Garrett answered, smiling. “Let’s hit the rides first.”

Libby nodded, though her heart skipped a beat. All it took was looking up into Garrett’s soft gray eyes, and she knew she was heading for trouble. And she’d already had enough of that for a lifetime.

“NO, REALLY, I DON’t want to ride,” Libby protested.